How To Make The Best Decision

There are so many good choices in our life that we could choose, but which should we choose? Out of all the things we could do and have in our life, how do we know which is the best for us? We only have one self and one life, so how do we make the best decision that will give the most to our life? 

For the past few weeks I struggled with all these questions. My ambitious heart desired a lot of things, but my own self could only handle so much. I had a full-time job, taught piano, wrote blogs every week, took bible classes, and on top of everything I was in the process of writing a book and also wanted to start a business I had planned for a couple of months. I reached a point in my life where I could not handle everything and ended up accomplishing nothing, but most importantly God started to diminish away in my busy life. 

I prayed and asked God to show me which path was the best decision for me. Everything seemed good, but I was not able to have everything and God started to lose priority in my life. I was confused on what exactly was blocking God from truly reflecting in my life. His answer was simple yet true: It was me - I was fogging up my own mirror and taking away God's reflection from my life. 

God wants us to live a life that mirrors him and not us. Everything good in this earth was not all meant for us. We were never made to take all the good things, but to take only the good things that were meant for us. 

So how do we make the best decision for our lives? It is simple: To choose the one that will mirror God the best way possible in our life. 

God never intended for our lives to glorify ourselves, but to only glorify him. 2 Corinthians 3:18 says, "So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord - who is the spirit - makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image."

Ask yourself this: Is your life mirroring God? And if it is not, what is covering it up? Who do you see in your mirror, God's reflection or yours? Is your reflection taking up the room for God's reflection to be in your life? God calls each of our lives to reflect him and to become more like his image and not our own. 

We ourselves are the greatest threat of blocking God's image into our lives. It can be easy to focus our life on ourselves and to be self-centered, choosing the life we want and not what God wants for us. But to live a life that truly mirrors God means living a life that God wants for us. As much as we have our own desires for our own life, living a life that surrenders and follows christ means to let God make the best decisions for us. 

Pray and ask God to lead you into the things he wants for your life. Your life was only meant to reflect the glory of God, so do not let your selfishness remove God's glory on your life because that is exactly what satan wants. It always cost something to get something, but don't let the cost be cutting God short in your life. Let go of the things you desire in your heart and chase after what God wants for you. 

Be a mirror that reflects God's glory and not your own. When others see you, shine his light towards them and let his image be ever present upon your life. So remember, only God can make the best decisions for you. 

How To Fix a Stale Relationship

Is finding time alone with God a burden for you? Do you find yourself arranging and measuring your time with god instead of simply desiring him? Feeling relieved when your bible time is over and checked off on your check list? If your answer to all these questions are yes, then we can almost confidently say that you have a stale relationship with God. 

The definition of stale is, "no longer fresh and pleasant". Some good questions to ask yourself daily are: 

-Are you putting your relationship with God first? 

-Do you talk to God as much as you should?

-Are you constantly desiring God, or are you measuring the time you should seek God?

So how do we fix a stale relationship? The solution is to make God your source of freshness. 

If you are not making God your source of freshness, then how can he ever be your source of freshness? Our relationship with Jesus is like any other relationship we have with our partners. Like any relationship with your spouse or partner, if you never depend or see your partner as your happiness, then they will never be your source of freshness and happiness. Just because you say I love you, give them a kiss, and hangout with them everyday does not mean that you see them as your happiness nor love them. If you continue to focus on someone or something else other than your partner as your source of happiness, then how can you ever see them as your source of happiness?

This goes the same with God - if we focus on something else other than God as our source of joy, then we will never open the way to see God as our source of joy. Just because you go to church, read the bible, or pray does not mean you see him as your source of freshness and joy. 

To fix your stale relationship with God, first identify what you depend on as your source of freshness and exchange that with God. If social media is a greater source of joy and refreshment for your day, then remove that with more time spent on reading his word. Change your perspective and see God as your source of joy, and that will be the start to fixing your stale relationship with him. 

Psalm 42:2 says, "My soul thirsts for God, the living God." Are you thirsty for God? Do you feel the need for him? Or is time with him an obligation? It can be easy to breeze through life without acknowledging God, but the fact is we need him every single day of our lives. We need that thirst for God so we can have the desire to seek him with all our hearts. Before we can thirst for God, we first need to see God as the source to relieve our thirst. Just like with water, before we can thirst for water, we first need to see and acknowledge that water is the source to relieve our thirst. 

Do not pretend to be open with Jesus, but rather keep your life open to him. When you open your mind and heart to Jesus, then you will open the way for his joy to fill your heart. I encourage you all to pray and ask the holy spirit to fill you with a never ending supply of joy from God. God wants us to desire him, as he desires us.

Joy from God was never meant to be a one-time thing. Psalm 16:11 says, "You will show me the way of life, granting me the joy of your presence and the pleasures of living with you forever." His joy was meant to refresh us ever single day for the rest of our lives. So remember, you can turn your stale relationship into a fresh one. 

How To Pursue Your Purpose

Many of us work hard everyday with planning our tasks and goals in life, but have you ever feared that your hard work would result to nothing? Or even worse - your hard work would end up hurting you? Afraid that you will not be able to pursue your purpose or that you are pursuing the wrong purpose? 

It has been a month now since I have been taking bible classes at my church. At first, I was afraid of enrolling to the classes because it would take a lot of my time and investment to complete the set of courses. I was afraid that I would not be able to find time to manage all my current responsibilities, but more than this, I was afraid that my hard work on pursuing my career towards ministry would result to nothing. I was afraid that I was not good enough to be successful towards this purpose that God has called me, and that I was pursuing the wrong purpose...so many "afraids" just filled up my mind. 

It can be so easy for us to fall for our own weaknesses and substitute God's plan with our own plans; plans that we feel will fit for us. I made all the excuses I could make to justify myself against pursuing the call that God had for me. Filled with worries of failure, I prayed to God and asked him to help me. He then spoke to me through this verse: 

"The horse is made ready for the day of battle, but victory rests with the Lord." (Proverbs 21:31)

We can prepare and work hard as much as we want, but victory is all in Gods hands and not our own. We spend most of our time worrying about the end result, the victory, when we never had to worry about it because victory has already been in God's hand. 

Your victory is resting in God's hand and it is going no where. 

God made me realize that I was worrying about the wrong things, and that if I continued to dwell in my worries, I would never find my true purpose in my life. Don't pursue a purpose that your eyes now can assure you will make it. What your eyes see now does not have the capability to show you what your true purpose is in Christ. See from God's eyes and trust that he already has your victory resting in his hands. 

Let your worries go and pursue the call God has placed in your heart. I am glad that I decided to enroll in the bible classes that I am currently in now. God has been able to help me manage my time, and I trust that the end result of my victory is waiting in his hands. 

I encourage you all to trust the purpose and call that God has placed in your heart, regardless of how impossible it seems. Do not worry about the victory because God already has a hold of it. No one including Satan cannot steal that victory away from God. Focus on what you are called to do today and let God take care of how you will make it tomorrow. 

God's strength is enough to carry you through and only he can help you pursue your purpose. The last thing you want to do is try to fulfill your purpose by yourself because it could lead you into pursuing the wrong purpose. John 5:15 says, "I am the vine and you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you are nothing."

Count on God and make him your savior, hope, and defender. Your hard work does not add or subtract towards your victory because God already has your victory before you even knew your purpose. To pursue the right purpose means to give God the control over your life. He will be your best fighter and he will never fail you. So remember, allow God to pursue your purpose. 

Are You a Cover Up?

Have there been times when you did something on the outside, but on the inside you really did not want to do it? Saying a lot of yes's on the outside but many no's on the inside? Our good outward actions can easily fool us to believe that what we are doing is right and even good for God, but have you ever stopped to consider if you were being a cover up? 

I am the type of person that does not like to disappoint others as well as God, so if there is even a slight possibility of me saying yes to any request that is asked before me, I most likely will say yes. But that yes comes with complaints and a grumbling heart filled with why's and no's. It was then that I stumbled upon a simple short verse that opened my own eyes: 

"Do everything without grumbling or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure.." (Philippians 2:14-15). 

From this verse, it made me realize that I do almost everything with grumbling or arguing - which is the total opposite of what God has called me to do. I always took the time to check my actions, but I never took the time to check my heart. Besides checking your actions, have you taken the time to check your heart? 

God calls us to do everything without grumbling. That word everything includes the times when we don't deserve to go through it, the times when it is not convenient for us, and anything else that has a great reason for us to grumble about. God's glory can only shine on us and others when our hearts resemble what our hands do. 

My one friend one told me that as mature christians, we have learned how to control ourselves and hide our emotions. We have trained ourselves to show ourselves godly on the outside, but what about the inside? Because the inside is what matters to God. 

Our actions do not define our hearts, but our hearts is what defines our actions. 

It can be easy to put on a mask and not even realize it. Be careful of doing good things but wearing a mask that hides the ugliness of your heart. Instead of covering up youtself, admit your faults to God because he is the only one that can transform you. No one is perfect and it is ok to have a grumbling heart at times, but as soon as we realize it, we must allow god to transform us so that his glory can shine through our actions. 

A mask may protect and cover you up temporarily, but it will never transform you into who you want to be. Take off your mask and trust that Jesus can transform your heart. 2 Corinthians 3:18 says, "And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord." 

To be able to experience God's glory and be truly transformed, we must remove the masks that we put across our face and unveil our faces to God. Instead of thinking that the mask is the solution, focus on fixing your heart. Open yourself up and allow the holy spirit to transform you so that his glory may shine one you and every action you do. So remember, do not be a cover up, but rather cover yourself up with God's glory. 

What Defines Happiness?

There is not a single person on this earth who is not seeking for happiness - the pursuit of happiness is everyone's dream. Although we are chasing this dream called "happiness", what actually defines happiness? Is your definition of happiness the real happiness that you should be pursuing? Will your definition actually bring you to happiness? Happiness is a simple word to understand and an emotion that is easily relatable, yet why is it that not many people reach happiness? 

The answer to this question is because many people chase the wrong happiness. Many of us define happiness as to how much we have and own (which includes money). I don't blame those who have this mentality because we grew up with this mentality as children. When we were young, we were trained to see happiness as something that was given to us; a reward or gift. When we got an A on a test we would get rewarded by getting the toy or item we always wanted, when we did well in school we would get candy, and the list goes on. We have been trained to love receiving toys and gifts and saw happiness as to what our parents gave us. A reward for us was defined to what we got in return for obedience. 

But as we get older in Christ, we should start to see the reward of life as giving back to others, spending time with the people you love, and impacting the world. As adults we start to have more responsibilities, and although it might not seem that having more responsibilities is a reward, when you really think about it, it is actually more rewarding to have more responsibilities. When you have more responsibilities, you have the ability to make a greater positive impact to others. 

Acts 20:35 says, "It is more blessed to give than to receive." You might be wondering but how does giving to others more than yourself make your life happy? I asked this same question to myself as well many times before. 

I was reading the story of Mabel Dean, a lady who dedicated her life to God. God called her to leave the U.S and service as a missionary in Egypt. She left everything that she had and followed where God had called her. Even though she wanted to go back to the U.S, she stayed in Egypt and sacrificed her life for 30 years in Egypt to do God's calling on her. As I was reading her story, I could not help but wonder how could someone be willing to sacrifice their life and still feel happy? Although I appreciated what she did, I could not understand how serving and sacrificing her life brought her joy. 

How could a life that asks for so much of yourself be a life worth living for? Then I read the last sentence in the passage that opened my eyes. The passage stated how she built 15 churches and another 30 congregations. She made not only a big impact on Egypt, but a lasting one as well. That is when I realized that this is the life worth living for. I finally learned the simple definition of happiness: 

Happiness is not from what we hold, but from what we leave behind. 

Did you know that you have something worth more than money? Something that can last for generations to come? That something is your legacy. We all have the power of happiness and it is not determined by our circumstances, or of how much money we have. What we have will not last forever, but our legacy does - it can last for generations to come. 

A life like Mabel Dean's is a life worth more than what money can buy. Having a life where you are filled with money means you can own everything you want - the best brands, house, clothes, cars, ect. It is a great life, but it is a life that anyone could have and that money could buy. Money cannot buy a legacy that will last for generations, it cannot buy the salvation of Jesus, and it cannot buy an impact to the world. 

Money only means you will have more, but having more does not mean you will be happy. Our natural tendency is to always want more than what we have, so what we have will never make us content or fulfill our lifelong happiness. 

Your legacy and impact is what will make you happy and create purpose in your life. Many of the people who are most happy are the ones who gave and left behind the most. The things you have will not last forever, but the impacts you make will last forever. John the baptist is another great example in the bible. He sacrificed his whole life to serve Jesus and even ended up in jail, but his example and teachings have left an impact to the world even until today. 

Life's reward is not on how much we can take from this world, but on how much we can give to this world. 

So now that you know the definition of happiness, can you pursue happiness? The answer to that is yes! You are the source of happiness - it is not what you have but because of you and your capabilities can you create a strong legacy. I encourage you all to stretch your capabilities to impact this world. With the hand of Jesus in your life, you will be able to do more than you can imagine. 

1 Corinthians 2:9 says, "No eyes has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love him." Let Jesus into your life and you will find your true happiness. Jesus is worth more than anything on this earth, and he will help you define your purpose in this life. So remember, the foot steps that you leave behind today is what defines your happiness for tomorrow.

Are We Dirty?

Dirty- a word that many of us do not want to be described as. Many of us take the time to make sure our physical bodies are clean; we take showers everyday to be clean and fresh, brush our teeth, and the list goes on. Although your physical body may be clean, have you ever questioned if your spiritual life needed cleaning? Is your spiritual life dirty?

Imagine going to a smokey bbq place. When you first enter the place you are most likely going to notice the smell. Although the smoke smells bad, you cannot runaway from it because the place is filled with smoke. However, as you stay longer the smell starts to fade away and when you get out, you probably won't even realize anymore that you smell because you already got used to of the smell. This here is called adaption.

This analogy applies exactly to our spiritual life. We all live and interact in this world that is full of sin and corruption, yet we all forget that just like the smoke in the bbq place, the sin of this world gets on us too. We become dirty just from going out in this world, and when we go home we forget that we are dirty and need to wash ourselves with God's word and the holy spirit.

Many of us think that we do not need to pray and read the bible everyday. But if you interact with this world, its corruption will go on you and you will have to wash your souls and mind just like how you shower everyday. Do not let Satan plant a lie in your heart telling you that you can go out in this world without needing to cleanse yourself with God's truth.

Like the smoke in my analogy, this world will get to you. And if we do not hurry to clean ourselves, we will soon adapt to the sins of this world without realizing it. We need God everyday to cleanse us and renew our minds to purity. So how do we prevent from being dirty?

1. Acknowledge the world is dirty and full of sin. 

2. Acknowledge you will always be dirty and never 100% clean when you live in this world. 

If you keep these 2 things in mind everyday, it will prevent you from sining without realizing because you see the need to wash yourself with God's word everyday. Believing that you do not need to speak and hear from God everyday will make you vulnerable. It will lead you to sin without knowing you are sinning.

I was recently reading about the life of Charles Parham who was used by God greatly, and was one of the founders of the Pentecostal religion. However, near the end of his life he started to drift away from God, and probably without even realizing it. He had a spirit of racism and believed that blacks and whites should be separated even during church services. It wasn't surprising to read about this because during the 1800s, racism was still prominent. However, it was shocking to see how a great man of God could still fall to such a sin without realizing it. He later was accused for many other acts that lead to his decline as an evangelist.

The story of Parham made me realize how we need to constantly check on ourselves to make sure we are not adapting to what is going around us. It can be so easy to adapt to the environment we are in- it is our natural human tendency. Satan wants us to adapt to sin without us even realizing that it is sin that we accept.  There are 2 types of conditions when we sin: Sinning but not realizing that we are sinning, and sinning and understanding that we are sinning. 

Sinning and knowing you sinned is already bad enough, but sinning and not knowing is even more dangerous. Pray and ask the holy spirit to help you see your own dirtiness that your own eyes cannot see. This world is corrupted and it can easily brainwash you without you even realizing it.

Don't adapt to the world, but adapt to God's word.

Romans 12:2 says, "Do not conform to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind." God told us not to conform to this world because he knew that it would be easy for man to conform to this world. But as long as we wash ourselves with his truth, it will transform us and make us clean and pure to be the light of the world. Ask God to reveal the things you need to wash away from your life, and he will reveal them to you. So remember, wash yourself physically and spiritually everyday.

How To Have The Perfect Heart

Have you ever felt guilty of not being perfect enough for God? Finding yourself disappointed because you know you disappointed God? Wishing for a perfect heart that seemed too far to reach? 

There have been many times where I too found myself disappointed from my mistakes and failures. I recently failed a commitment I had made, and could not help but feel guilty for not standing up to a responsibility I was suppose to do. That night I prayed to God and told him that I didn't feel good enough for him. As much as I desired serving God, there were some days where I lost his desire in my heart. I didn't have the "perfect heart" that many of my fellow ministers seemed to have. But in the midst of my cry to God he told me,"I'm not looking for your perfect heart, I only want your broken heart." That night I learned this truth: 

God is not looking for your perfect heart. He only wants your broken heart so that he can take the broken pieces and turn it into a perfect heart that belongs to him. 

Our hearts cannot be perfect alone; we need God to perfect it. It can be easy to rely on our own strengths and capabilities to shape the perfect heart that we want, but if we do this we will find ourselves failing to complete the perfect heart that we desire. The best way to have a perfect heart is to give our broken heart to God.

Once we have a heart that belongs to God, we will find ourselves desiring what he desires without any struggles. Give God your heart so that he can give you back a heart that is filled with his desire. God wants to give us a heart like heaven; a heart that is in accordance to his kingdom. The byproduct of a heart that is owned by God is one that desires what he desires. 

So now you might ask, how do I know if I have the perfect heart that belongs to God? It is simple: Your heart will tell you. 

1 John 3:20 says, "If our hearts condemn us, we know that God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything." Your heart will condemn you when you do wrong against God. As much as we want to runaway from the truth of our failures, the heart knows and it will condemn you. The good news is, it is not the end when your heart condemns you. God doesn't want to be greater than your heart, he wants your heart to be his. If your heart condemns you, then you know that your heart does not belong to God. But if you surrender and give your heart to God, it will open the window of blessings to your life. 

Proverbs 4:23 says, "Above all else, guard your heart for everything you do flows from it." Guarding your heart is so important because it determines your destiny. Your heart is the storehouse for God's truth to resonate in your body, mind, and soul. It is a necessity for you to have a perfect heart owned by God. Without an open and willing heart to God, it will close the doors that God has prepared for you and  prevent you from gaining the desires that he has for you. A heart that does not belong to God will prevent you from pursuing the great plans that he has prepared for you. 

Our actions all come from the condition of our heart. Everything we do starts from the heart because the heart is what produces our thoughts and actions. To guard also means to examine, so we should examine our hearts to make sure that it is aligned with what God loves and desires. Ask God to help you examine your heart and turn your broken heart into a perfect heart like his. 

I challenge all of you to give your hearts to Christ and let him perfect it. When you replace your heart with a heart that belongs to God, you will start to see blessings in your life flow from it. Rest your heart in God's hand because it is the best place and condition for your heart to be at. Only God can turn your broken heart into something beautiful. So remember, God is the way to a perfect heart.